anniem

"walking from your hotel to the show without having to worry about getting mugged" I have lived in the Indy area for 22 years and have never had a thought about being mugged downtown in the area of the stadium, mall and restaurants. While I agree that Bloomington is cute and sweet and all I don't see a big chance of muggings in Indy either.

shhhhhhhhh....................

Dr. Mickey I'd like to sit by you at a show. You articulated well what I have thought about Crossman and Crusaders. Will you be traveling to other shows to give us your run down?

plus a free day in Amsterdam. wow.

I'm sure HNC has a few things up their sleeve too, saving for the big payoff at the end of season. I don't think we can compare where either corp is now with where they'll be in relation to one another 3 weeks from now. They may add and clean in uneven spurts so that current night to night scores won't matter in the long run. Only August 8 scores count. Until then just enjoy the rivalry without a bunch in the panties...

hmmmm, I hear you brasso and I really don't disagree. It will surely be the the winners' "year" for sure. But historically, it WILL be Crown's year (not comparing their season to other corps' year but to Crown's own history) if they make Top 3. They have already added to their own corp history by winning 9 straight competitions and besting the Cavaliers for the first time ever. In this thread we are considering that it might be Blue Stars year, Troopers year, or Pioneers year without winning but that Crown has to win for it to be their year. I get that it would not be SCV's year without a win because they've already won the whole thing. But Crown? They haven't even been in the top 3. BTW, I'm a totally biased Crown parent. lol, obviously. I cringe at all the Crown championship talk because I think it sets the year up as a failure if they don't win. I'm just hoping for top 3 although I'm sure my kid does not share my sentiment. I'd love to see Blue Stars in the top 6 but that means they'd have to beat at least one of the following...BD, SVG, HNC, PR, Cavies or CC. That WOULD qualify as being "their year."

Whose Year Is It? I don't think Crown has to win for it to be their year. The fact that they are now solidly in the top 3-5 and are being compared regularly to the Big 3 is enough for me. I'm giddy when I see Crown in the same sentence with BD/HND/Cavies... That anyone is even suggesting they have a chance at winning shows have far they've come.

I think you've got two kinds of "paying customers"- those that know the activity and know the score early in the season and those that don't know enough about drum corp to realize corps are still using practice flags, standing still for the ending because they haven't learned the drill yet and might not have complete uniforms. Neither group of customers is likely to complain. I've taken a number of corp virgins to early shows and they were blown away everytime. They didn't miss what they didn't know didn't exist yet. I realize not everyone is lucky enough to see more than a show or two but I love seeing early season shows which make me appreciate the final product in August even more.

Crown last year had 6 holes in the trumpet section for a few shows. SIX, that's six too many! two have stress fractures in their feet (I was one of those two) My kid was the other stress fracture in the Crown trumpet section last year. Never really healed and he didn't start this year because he didn't know if he'd make it through the season. There is no such thing as a refund if you can't make it through the season.... Luckily, he jumped in two weeks ago to fill a hole so he'll get to age out afterall. He started with Matt Harloff at Avon HS and with Crown staying at Avon for finals week it will come full circle for him August 4-8. There were at least five holes for Crown in Annapolis and I know of a kid with shingles and another with mono that have had to miss shows recently. Injury and illness is everywhere...

guys... wtf it's just marching band. Lately, I've even heard some of the marching members sarcastically calling it "band," something I've never heard in past years...

I had the chance of watching the Cadets and Crown practices on Tuesday. BOTH groups are working INCREDIBILY hard and seem to be very determined to be the best. Thanks banddad1 for a great update on both corps' practices. Very much appreciated from this Crown horn's momma! I hope they get the show in with no rain!

Someone needs to keep the Governor away from the BC colorguard...

I wondered about that. Thanks for the explanation.

Me three. Enjoyed them at Beverly and Bristol. Take a bite out of that apple and enjoy!

With Donnie VanDoren, the Harloffs and Ray Linkous involved in both Star and Crown that isn't a stretch...

Please remember that the disrespect that you suggested last night originated from a HNC alum who was being sarcastic... Hence the tongue sticking out that you did not initially recognize as sarcasm. I don't believe there is disrespect intended to your favorite corp this evenining either. Maybe wishful thinking on some folks' part but not disrespect. We Crownies really aren't such a bad bunch Benchmark...

Imagine going until July 18th and having no idea how they scored other than reading Drum Corps World .. I hear what you're saying but with Cavies and Phantom going at it frequently to date, Cadets and Crown together in the east and SCV and BD battling on the left coast we STILL won't know anything until July 18th on the dot!

No one who was there has mentioned it but Crown kinda sorta fell apart a bit in a couple places early on in Jackson so while Cadets had a pile up and weren't perfect neither was Crown. I have a kid in Crown but I love 'em both. I appreciate how far Crown has come in such a short time and I'm glad for Cadets to be doing well after a couple years of harsh bashing at shows. I thought the booing they received was a disgrace to the activity. I wish Crown and Cadets weren't competing solely against each other for such a long stretch. I worry that without competing against Cavies and Phantom lately we really don't have an idea how good either of them are compared to other top corps. Kinda out of touch with how other corps are coming along. Talked to my son after the Jackson show and heard lots of kids were sampling from each others' food trucks. That was the coolest thing I heard from the evening. Sniping here on DCP but in the real world I bet most of our kids are enjoying the ride.

I was at Beverly the other night and a lady sat in front of me with a toddler on her lap talking on her cell phone for a number of performances. The toddler got restless, grumpy and tired. I could tell the woman wasn't a drum corp fan- she was just there to see out of town friends who came for the show. Her friends should have explained to her appropriate conduct before the show started. They should have just met for lunch rather than meeting up at the show. I'm also sick of people sitting in the stands bashing various corps throughout the show. Some guy talked smack about both Cadets and Crown past shows for their use of narration to random people sitting near him and some old lady behind me went on and on about the Boston Crusaders sinful guard unis. Blah, blah, blah. If you've got to do it whisper to your neighbor. The people seated three rows behind you don't need to hear it.

Last June during Crown's pre-tour week in Bloomington, IN a neighbor close to the housing site complained to local authorities about the noise. If I recall correctly that info ended up making local news and other Bloomington residents were embarassed by the complaint. I believe Crown adjusted their practice location at certain times of the day in the spirit of cooperation. Interesting beginning since many corps converged on Bloomington for finals later in the season.

I'm flying to Boston tomorrow to watch my son march with Crown and I can't wait! I love that there is a serious head-to-head competition between Crown and Cadets so far this season. I have to think that level of competition between the two corps is making both corps better prepared for every future performance which is great for them and for the fans in the stands. I'll be chewing my nails, sick to my stomach, anxiously awaiting scores because of the close competition...

I worked the food truck a couple years ago and someone stopped by the housing site with a bunch of those little wooden crates of clementines. I thought that was a great idea! Fresh fruit that doesn't need to be cut by an already overworked kitchen staff and is very easily stored. Kids can take one with them and save to eat later too. Perfect for any time of the day. What was really awesome was the woman who donated the clementines had no affiliation with the corp. She simply heard the music each day as she lived nearby and decided to donate in appreciation. That was refreshing since neighbors close to practice sites sometimes complain to local authorities about the "noise."

I love that Crown is legitimately being compared to the Big 3. I love that Crown has risen to the level of numerous DCP discussion threads and a couple of "haters" like the Big boys have always had. (I hope CC parents and fans get used to the attention and ignore the very few "haters" and appreciate the true critiques of the show without taking offense.) I love the "in your face" wall of sound that makes the hair on my neck stand up and makes my breath catch. I love Crown's meteoric rise over the past 4-6 years. Moving from "fan favorite" and "underdog" to "championship contender" has been exciting. I love that my son has the chance to live the dream this year for his age out season. I love that as a young adult my son's "rock stars" are people like Donnie VanDoren and Michael Klesch.

This is fun but let's be honest. While there are a number of independent minded voters among us aren't there too many parents (me included) and alumni who are biased and would never vote against their corp to make this anything but skewed? Isn't this a matter of how many "homers" are on the DCP forums rather than which corp is really the fan favorite at this point? Can any of the folks who have been attending the shows let us know who gets the biggest reaction at the shows... That may well still be SCV and CC but maybe not by the same percentages. Go Crown! Oh did I just give myself away?